Coming This Week to Digital Foundry (Week 50 2025) (Patreon)

Hello there and yes, we are indeed closing in on the end of 2025 and it's obviously been a big year for us as we finally bought our way out of partnerships with big business and went fully independent. Four months in, we've achieved a lot thanks to your support, so from all of us, thanks very much for joining us and making our work possible on our terms. No regrets so far and no negatives to report!

The website is live, the Retro Super Show is up and running and so looking into 2026, we're going to start thinking not just about the stuff we want to do, but also improving the stuff we already do with a view to improving quality but also addressing one of the bigger issues DF has - lag. Sometimes we're too late with specific projects and by the time we do post, we're just a little too late. We can see it in YouTube views, of course, but it's interesting to note that we see it in Supporter views on early access content too.

So we need to start thinking about how we can optimise pipelines and get stuff out to you sooner while maintaining quality and accuracy. While we're not big on hot takes, we do need to react better to news - part of the reason being that as well as reporting on it (ie collating news and posting it) we're in the enviable position of being able to shape it by providing an extra dimension, whether that's through existing insights or additional testing. If we get this right, it'll also elevate DF Direct too.

Meanwhile, on reflection, I can see that post independence, the demands on my time have grown to an extent where I feel I'm not delivering regular content any more - something I really want to address as the ideas are plenty, but the time to get them done is growing increasingly minimal.

I'd love to know what you think about all of this and where you think DF should be heading in 2026 but for now, let's get onto the #content.

Tom is finalising his Red Dead Redemption video, focusing primarily on Switch 2 but with all the info you need from all the other versions, including mobile. After that? Flight Simulator 2024 perhaps and maybe the latest ShadPS4 Bloodborne build.

Oliver has a lot on his plate, including his Game of the Year video and also handling DF's Best Graphics of 2025 in combination with Alex and John. And I promise we are trying to get that ROG Ally X review done... but new features keep coming!

Alex has completed his sponsored video on the history of snow rendering and I honestly think it's one of the best pieces of #content we've done for a long, long time. This week he's working on Graphics of the Year of course, and eagerly awaits whatever FSR Redstone releases there may be.

John is - of course - working on the Graphics of the Year video with his friends and colleagues, but will also be working on episode #004 of the DF Retro Super Show while polishing off the first part of his Xbox 360 Launch Retrospective.

Rich (ie me) hopes to record Hardware of the Year, which will include our first look (delayed owing to the above) at the GPD Win 5. Still hoping to do Xbox Ally X with Oliver. Still hoping to find time for Steam Machine simulation... I mean, the system is built.

Sam continues to adapt our work for the amazing digitalfoundry.net website. Also floating the idea of looking at the NEX console that outsold Xbox on Black Friday - a console that is only available in the US.

We will be prepared for the TGAs this Thursday and it'll be lead story in DF Direct Weekly this week. But - as usual - please feel free to comment on the topics above, let us know your thoughts about 2026 and if we're missed anything we should be looking at, don't be backward about coming forward!